The Darkness Within

The Grief - Act III

"…How?" Sayer's voice echoed through the city, his voice seemingly cracking for every moment he continued to talk. "I… I accepted the darkness, I wielded its power, how could… how could this happen?" Already small bits of darkness were flowing off him, his body slowly dissipating into the cold wind that blew through the ruined New Domino.

"This is the end for you, Sayer. Your maniacal ways stop here," I said confidently, as the vision of Majestic Nova Dragon vanished, and the seal that Sayer's Dark Signer Mark had wrought upon New Domino faded down into the ground, though leaving a clear imprint of the havoc it had caused onto the ruined city. "Just like Kroe, just like Akron, you are nothing but dust in the wind."

"Am I?" Sayer choked, as he felt his body slowly disappear. "Hypocrisy is clearly your strongest aspect. You're no different from Kroe or me."

The moment he was done with saying that sentence, I grabbed him by the collar, anger flaring. "Don't you compare you ruthless bastards to me!" I snarled in anger, but Sayer's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Why not? You ended up doing the exact same thing we would have. You are no different from me, only this time, the roles are reversed. Now I was the one wielding the darkness. Ironic, huh? Well, at least I take comfort in knowing that no matter what, the same thing is going to happen. None of this ever mattered."

And then, Sayer faded into the wind, leaving no trace behind but the echo of his words as he was no more.

I was confused. How did he mean that this didn't matter? And how dare he compare me to the likes of himself or Kroe? He's gone, I killed him, I stopped his madness! Why doesn't this make any sense?!

"Looks like it's just you and me left now," Akron voice echoed, and I look around, trying to find the source of the noise. But I find nothing, only the ruins of what was once New Domino. I'm losing my grip… White flashes peppered my vision, showing myself trudging along the pristine white floor of New Domino Hospital. The loud whine came back to my ears, and my body felt weak.

"I'm surprised, Alkain," The Darkstar's voice echoed from behind me. I turned around, and met face-to-face with this dark mockery of me. The solid red eyes, the tentacles writhing from his back, the black-and-purple colors that adorned his clothes just emanated evil.

"Sayer's hate for you was strong. But you overcame it by using my sister's power. Frankly, I'm not surprised. She always was a bad loser."

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think the Conflict started in the first place? It wasn't because I was evil. My sister just wanted dominance. Dominance over mankind. I tried to stop her, but I couldn't. She was my sister, and she was my family."

"She had no such qualms," And then his form vanished into a sphere of dark energy, and flew back to his tower. Dark energy flew from the sphere as it quickly vanished in the distance, and I slowly got to my feet again. Was he… speaking the truth? Is he only doing this for revenge?

"Is that the truth?" I asked out, into the air, expecting an answer from the Crimson Star. I was only met with silence in response. The Darkstar's words echoed through my mind as I contemplated its words. The Darkstar was a lot like me back then. We were both driven by revenge.

I was… naïve back then.

What do you mean?

Humanity was wild… feral back then. I believed that it was necessary that I guided humanity. Divinius tried to talk sense into me. I thought he wanted humanity to kill itself, not let it evolve on its own. I struck him down for it, and I've regretted it every moment since.

Haven't you tried to explaining it?

Divinius won't listen. He only desires vengeance now. I tried sealing him away so I wouldn't have to kill my own brother, but…

That ended up not working.

No, it didn't. But I know that we have to, Alkain. Divinius needs to be destroyed.

And then what? Divinius dies, and then what happens?

I don't know, Jay. All I know is that in the end, what happens is your choice. I don't know what choices you'll have, but I know that it'll be yours to make.

And the price I have to pay?

I don't know. I really don't. Now, there's another beam of light! I think that's our next opponent!

I turned around, and powered up my wings, and flew with all haste towards the pillar of energy in the distance, blasting through the ruins filled to the brim with the dead that littered the streets of New Domino.

Only a few seconds later I noticed that I was heading into what was probably the most preserved area of New Domino, although even it had taken considerable damage. It was the Tops, and the pillar came from somewhere close to home.

Leo and Luna's penthouse.

I landed on the large outdoors area of the penthouse gently, my wings fading away the moment I touched the floor. The roof was still collapsed, a grim reminder of my first and major defeat. The defeat I suffered at the hands of Lance, and cost me the lives of the three people who meant everything to me.

The sight of seeing Leo and Luna dead… it still haunted me.

"It's like I told you, Jay," A voice that I really didn't want to hear echoed behind me. I turned around, and there he stood, clad in the same type of robes Sayer was, but with the secondary color being red instead of green.

"You and I run on madness and hate. It's what shaped us. How Kroe molded us into what we are. We can do nothing but destroy."

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